Twin terrors: Robinson lads finally meet on centre stage

By Jon Tuxworth

15 June 2013 — 3:00am

If the Robinson twins had their way, they'd be playing their first NRL match together on the same team, not against each other.

But Reece and Travis Robinson, who used to have their first initials shaved into their hair as juniors so coaches could tell them apart, will be on opposite sides of the park when Canberra host Penrith at Canberra Stadium on Saturday night.

Linked: Raider Reece Robinson.

Photo: Melissa Adams

The brothers turned 26 on Thursday and Reece, the more established NRL star at fullback with the Raiders, claims his brother, Travis, was always the ''better player''.

But it was less than two years ago Travis snuck under the radar of the Raiders, despite being the leading try-scorer in the Canberra Raiders Cup competition for the title-winning Queanbeyan Kangaroos in 2010 and 2011. He finally got his chance in the NRL last year with Penrith and has secured a regular spot after five tries in his past six games.

Reece's brother Travis, a Panther.

Photo: Getty Images

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''I went down there [to Queanbeyan] with the hope of going to the Raiders, but that didn't work out,'' Travis said. ''I was hoping to play with him [Reece], but it's a pretty good competition down there.

''Everyone would love to play with their brother, but we do it every year in the [Aboriginal] Knockout, as long as we can do that, it's not so bad.

''Our family's all coming down to the game. It's our birthday during the week, so one of us will be upset.''

Both gifted, neither had an easy path to the NRL. Dumped by the Broncos at the end of 2008, Reece was taken on by the Raiders on the advice of then Brisbane coach Wayne Bennett. He has entrenched himself as a star at fullback since the sacking of Josh Dugan.

Travis' journey has been even more tumultuous. In 2006, he suffered an ankle compound dislocation playing for Cronulla's premier league side. His ankle was hanging by a couple of ligaments. It took 18 months of rehabilitation and, disillusioned with the game, Travis went to a rugby league outpost in Alice Springs to escape.

Being coaxed back to Queanbeyan changed his fortunes.

Reece was watching from the stands the day Travis suffered the ankle injury. ''It was pretty devastating to see what happened to him because he was on a roll at that stage,'' Reece said. ''Maybe that year he would have got a crack in the NRL, but that injury set him back a fair bit. I'm glad he got back into it and I'm definitely proud of him, I always thought growing up he was a better player than me.

''He probably made a few shit moves, especially moving up to Alice Springs, but he came back and switched back on.''

They've worn Lebanon's green representative jersey together (their father was Lebanese), but both admit playing in the same NRL team remains their dream.

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They were Souths fans growing up in Redfern, their grandfather Eric was a Rabbitohs great. They spent days playing touch football with their cousins, Souths flyer Nathan Merritt and boxer Anthony Mundine. ''I'd definitely rather play with my brother, we've always spoken about it and there was only a couple of opportunities when we were younger,'' Reece said. ''If we have to play against each other we have to do it, it'll come down to whoever's best on the day.''

Queanbeyan Kangaroos captain-coach Aaron Gorrell, who played NRL with the Dragons and Broncos, says he was shocked Travis wasn't spotted by Canberra during his two seasons in the Raiders Cup. ''Everyone knew how good he was, it was just a matter of him putting his mind to it and having a fair dinkum crack,'' he said. ''When he had the ball there was no one close to him in the comp, and still isn't.''